Aetna exits Iowa individual insurance market for 2018

Health insurer Aetna Inc said on Thursday it will exit Iowa's Obamacare-compliant individual insurance market in 2018, citing financial risk and the uncertain outlook.

President Donald Trump and Republicans have promised to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, but have been stalled by disagreement over the changes they will make.

Insurers have said uncertainty over which rules will be in place in 2018 and the billions of dollars in government subsidies that make the plans more affordable to millions of people make it difficult to commit to offering such insurance. Many have asked the government to extend the subsidies for 2018.

Aetna said it is still evaluating its other remaining individual insurance markets, which include Delaware, Nebraska and Virginia. The company exited most markets this year but in January said it had more than 240,000 people in individual plans and expected to post losses on them this year.

Health insurers are preparing 2018 premium rate proposals to submit to federal and state insurance regulators over the next few months. Aetna said it had notified regulators of its plans on Thursday.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which regulates the Obamacare individual market, was not immediately available for comment.